Say Whaaaa? Special Edition: Analyzing the Crazy Basterds' Oscar Finale
Say whaaaa? What does that even mean? The Weinsteins themselves might have had the same question when LaSalle wrote a similar sentiment last December in his Top-10 list: "When all is said and done, this movie is what happened in cinema this year." (Weirdly, he wrote two spots later about Up in the Air: "More than any other film, this one took the pulse of who we were in 2009." Confused!)
Whether he felt like fleshing that out for Harvey or just found it easier to paraphrase his headscratcher, LaSalle finally offers an ad-copyable answer in two parts. First:
Say whaaaa? Maybe it's obvious, maybe it's not, whatever. But when did the Star of David replace the Nazi swastika in the Inglourious Basterds logo? If the heavy Jewish-vote courtship wasn't over the top since all that Basterds-as-Purim wackiness in recent months, this probably will do it. Just don't tell anybody Best Supporting Actor front-runner Christoph Waltz plays a Nazi, I guess?
All right, where were we? Oh -- "What movie represents the thing that happened in cinema this year?" Yes! The thing:
Say whaaaa? Books! In 2110! LOLZ. Anyway, yes, that is some thing, all right. Note also what immediately followed this passage in LaSalle's original piece:
But a decent second choice among the nominees would be The Hurt Locker, which is not quite as brilliant, not quite as audacious, but almost as innovative, and which is also the product of a director's highly personal vision. If academy members don't have the stomach to vote for the true best film of the year, they should at least find the courage to vote for the year's second best film. Anything short of that would be a joke.
Oh damn, James Cameron is pissed. But is Basterds nominated for anything else?
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I agree that "Inglourious Bastards" is the thing that happened in cinema this year, but the bigger question is: when we're all in time at that one place, what film represents the thing that happened the previous time with the other thing at the other place? Riddle me that, Academy.
"Inglourious Basterds" is certainly the thing that happened *most often* at the cinema this year (and most years lately): I went in hoping to see a movie and came out having seen a two-hour trailer.
First the obnoxious massive "Bingo" billboard I always have to drive past on Sunset, and now this. If the Weinsteins aren't careful, Avatar is going to un-backlash.
This perfectly represents the phoney hype that so many publicists and critics have been guilty of regarding "Basterds". People just can't seem to take the fact that the movie didn't flesh out most of its characters (did any basterd except Brad Pitt have more than 3 lines of dialogue?) or that Quentin didn't deliver the war epic he'd promised for so many years, so they embellished the significance of every frame, every line and every cinema reference instead of realising this was an okay film with a few great scenes that was ultimately a misfire.
You're right: What the hell DOES that mean? Why is this THE THING THAT HAPPENED IN CINEMA THIS YEAR? If I'd read that line on its own, I'd think, jeez, I guess a great new form of 3-D was what happened this year, so this must be an ad for "Avatar".
I thought "Basterds" stood a good chance of winning BP, due to the fact that the "Avatar"/"Locker" vote is gonna be split, there's a preferential ballot, and IB is well-liked. I've even put a bet on it with William Hill - not that I'm sure it will take the gold, but 16/1 odds were too sweet to resist. (I like longshots... perhaps a little too much... before the noms, I tried to get the bookies to take my novelty bet that "Hangover" would get a BP nom... thankfully they didn't take my money, and I learned once again that in the pre-nom phase my imagination gives the Academy way too much credit.)
This aggressive campaigning actually makes me think a win is LESS likely; Harvey's insistence turns people off at this point, I would imagine, and if Jews on the rampage wasn't enough to push "Munich" over the edge, I don't think a transparent playing up of this angle in a few Oscar posters is going to cause a groundswell of support.
We'll see. It's nice to have some mystery in the Best Picture race, though, that's fer sure.
Nice try, but the real breach in rules was the Hurt Locker producer's jab at Avatar in his letter. That was the only cited reason for his backlash. Seriously though, nice try. haha, go Basterds.
Inglorious Basterds is the best picture of the year and I think in any other year it would and should be the oscar front runner -- its so multi-layered, so enjoyable and truthfully, it reminds you why you love going to the movies in the first place. Awardsdaily.com readers voted it number 1, in mock oscar voting. I hope it sweeps but I am resolved to be hurt, which is not bad, but Inglorious Basterds is a classic.
This time Harvey's got the goods. And if anyone has seen all of the films, i really can't see them picking any other movie as best picture.
Seriously? this is probably the most painful example of pandering to a particular audience that has happened in a long, long time.
Not to mention that if Nine hadn't gotten execrable reviews, the Weinsteins would be finding an equally obvious angle to reach voters... maybe appeal to gay Italian-Americans?
I fricking hate the Weinsteins.
It's not a "breach in rules," it's just shameless and tacky. I don't think there's been such a blatant campaign since John Wayne's for The Alamo.
The Weinsteins just irk the hell out of me.
I think Tarantino was in over his head with "Inglorious Bastards". I think the film, based on its subject matter, could have been bigger, or more grand. It just fell short of being epic because it needed a director with a bigger vision. Also, I found Brad Pitt totally unnesessary. Pitt and his terrible accent was a distraction. Excuse my spelling mistakes to.
The campaign probably helped DVD sales.
YOU MORON, this is the 21st century......duh!
[...] little desperate, sure, but at least it beats “WHAT MOVIE REPRESENTS THE THING THAT HAPPENED IN CINEMA THIS YEAR?” You’ve come a long-ish way, [...]